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Spiral arms, as those of our own Milky Way, are some of the most spectacular features in disc galaxies. It has been argued that star formation should proceed more efficiently in spiral arms as a result of gas compression. Yet, observational studies have so far yielded contradictory results. Here, we examine arm/interarm surface density contrasts at ∼100 pc resolution in 28 spiral galaxies from the PHANGS survey. We find that the arm/interarm contrast in stellar mass surface density (Σ⋆) is very modest, typically a few tens of percent. This is much smaller than the contrasts measured for molecular gas (Σmol) or star formation rate (ΣSFR) surface density, which typically reach a factor of ∼2 − 3. However, Σmol and ΣSFR contrasts show a significant correlation with the enhancement in Σ⋆, suggesting that the small stellar contrast largely dictates the stronger accumulation of gas and star formation. All these contrasts increase for grand-design spirals compared to multi-armed and flocculent systems (and for galaxies with high stellar mass). The median star formation efficiency (SFE) of the molecular gas is 16% higher in spiral arms than in interarm regions, with a large scatter, and the contrast increases significantly (median SFE contrast 2.34) for regions of particularly enhanced stellar contrast (Σ⋆ contrast > 1.97). The molecular-to-atomic gas ratio (Σmol/Σatom) is higher in spiral arms, pointing to a transformation of atomic to molecular gas. As a consequence, the total gas contrast (Σmol + Σatom) slightly drops compared to Σmol (median 4% lower, working at ∼kpc resolution), while the SFE contrast increases when we include atomic gas (median 8% higher than for Σmol). The contrasts show important fluctuations with galactocentric radius. We confirm that our results are robust against a number of effects, such as spiral mask width, tracers, resolution, and binning. In conclusion, the boost in the SFE of molecular gas in spiral arms is generally modest or absent, except for locations with exceptionally large stellar contrasts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present and publicly release a new star-forming regions emission library TODDLERS (Time evolution of Observables including Dust Diagnostics and Line Emission from Regions containing young Stars) for the publicly available radiative transfer code SKIRT. The library generation involves the spherical evolution of a homogeneous gas cloud around a young stellar cluster that accounts for stellar feedback processes including stellar winds, supernovae, and radiation pressure, as well as the gravitational forces on the gas. The semi-analytical evolution model is coupled with the photoionization code Cloudy to calculate time-dependent UV–mm spectral energy distributions (SEDs) from star-forming regions of varying metallicity, star-formation efficiency, birth-cloud density, and mass. The calculated SEDs include the stellar, nebular, and dust continuum emission along with a wide range of emission lines originating from H  ii , photodissociation, and molecular gas regimes tabulated at high resolution. The SEDs incorporated in SKIRT are generated by calculating a stellar-mass normalized luminosity, which assumes that each emission source is composed of a power-law population of star-forming clouds. When compared to the previous treatment of star-forming regions in SKIRT, TODDLERS shows a better agreement with low-redshift observational data in the IR wavelength range while offering a more comprehensive line-emission support. This paves the way for a variety of applications using simulated galaxies at low and high redshift. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Galactic bars can drive cold gas inflows towards the centres of galaxies. The gas transport happens primarily through the so-called bar dust lanes, which connect the galactic disc at kpc scales to the nuclear rings at hundreds of pc scales much like two gigantic galactic rivers. Once in the ring, the gas can fuel star formation activity, galactic outflows, and central supermassive black holes. Measuring the mass inflow rates is therefore important to understanding the mass/energy budget and evolution of galactic nuclei. In this work, we use CO datacubes from the PHANGS-ALMA survey and a simple geometrical method to measure the bar-driven mass inflow rate on to the nuclear ring of the barred galaxy NGC 1097. The method assumes that the gas velocity in the bar lanes is parallel to the lanes in the frame co-rotating with the bar, and allows one to derive the inflow rates from sufficiently sensitive and resolved position–position–velocity diagrams if the bar pattern speed and galaxy orientations are known. We find an inflow rate of |$\dot{M}=(3.0 \pm 2.1)\, \rm M_\odot \, yr^{-1}$| averaged over a time span of 40 Myr, which varies by a factor of a few over time-scales of ∼10 Myr. Most of the inflow appears to be consumed by star formation in the ring, which is currently occurring at a star formation rate (SFR) of |$\simeq\!1.8\!-\!2 \, \rm M_\odot \, yr^{-1}$|⁠ , suggesting that the inflow is causally controlling the SFR in the ring as a function of time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We compare dynamical mass estimates based on spatially extended stellar and ionized gas kinematics (M dyn,* and M dyn,eml, respectively) of 157 star-forming galaxies at 0.6 ≤ z < 1. Compared with z ∼ 0, these galaxies have enhanced star formation rates, with stellar feedback likely affecting the dynamics of the gas. We use LEGA-C DR3, the highest-redshift data set that provides sufficiently deep measurements of a K s -band limited sample. For M dyn,*, we use Jeans anisotropic multi-Gaussian expansion models. For M dyn,eml, we first fit a custom model of a rotating exponential disk with uniform dispersion, whose light is projected through a slit and corrected for beam smearing. We then apply an asymmetric drift correction based on assumptions common in the literature to the fitted kinematic components to obtain the circular velocity, assuming hydrostatic equilibrium. Within the half-light radius, M dyn,eml is on average lower than M dyn,*, with a mean offset of â€"0.15 ± 0.016 dex and galaxy-to-galaxy scatter of 0.19 dex, reflecting the combined random uncertainty. While data of higher spatial resolution are needed to understand this small offset, it supports the assumption that the galaxy-wide ionized gas kinematics do not predominantly originate from disruptive events such as star formationâ€"driven outflows. However, a similar agreement can be obtained without modeling from the integrated emission line dispersions for axis ratios q < 0.8. This suggests that our current understanding of gas kinematics is not sufficient to efficiently apply asymmetric drift corrections to improve dynamical mass estimates compared with observations lacking the signal-to-noise ratio required for spatially extended dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we examine the factors that shape the distribution of molecular gas surface densities on the 150 pc scale across 67 morphologically diverse star-forming galaxies in the PHANGS-ALMA CO (2–1) survey. Dividing each galaxy into radial bins, we measure molecular gas surface density contrasts, defined here as the ratio between a fixed high percentile of the CO distribution and a fixed reference level in each bin. This reference level captures the level of the faint CO floor that extends between bright filamentary features, while the intensity level of the higher percentile probes the structures visually associated with bright, dense interstellar medium features like spiral arms, bars, and filaments. We compare these contrasts to matched percentile-based measurements of the 3.6 μm emission measured using Spitzer/IRAC imaging, which trace the underlying stellar mass density. We find that the logarithms of CO contrasts on 150 pc scales are 3–4 times larger than, and positively correlated with, the logarithms of 3.6 μm contrasts probing smooth nonaxisymmetric stellar bar and spiral structures. The correlation appears steeper than linear, consistent with the compression of gas as it flows supersonically in response to large-scale stellar structures, even in the presence of weak or flocculent spiral arms. Stellar dynamical features appear to play an important role in setting the cloud-scale gas density in our galaxies, with gas self-gravity perhaps playing a weaker role in setting the 150 pc scale distribution of gas densities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present kinematic orientations and high-resolution (150 pc) rotation curves for 67 main-sequence star-forming galaxies surveyed in CO (2–1) emission by PHANGS–ALMA. Our measurements are based on the application of a new fitting method tailored to CO velocity fields. Our approach identifies an optimal global orientation as a way to reduce the impact of nonaxisymmetric (bar and spiral) features and the uneven spatial sampling characteristic of CO emission in the inner regions of nearby galaxies. The method performs especially well when applied to the large number of independent lines of sight contained in the PHANGS CO velocity fields mapped at 1″ resolution. The high-resolution rotation curves fitted to these data are sensitive probes of mass distribution in the inner regions of these galaxies. We use the inner slope as well as the amplitude of our fitted rotation curves to demonstrate that CO is a reliable global dynamical mass tracer. From the consistency between photometric orientations from the literature and kinematic orientations determined with our method, we infer that the shapes of stellar disks in the mass range of log() = 9.0–10.9 probed by our sample are very close to circular and have uniform thickness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It remains a major challenge to derive a theory of cloud-scale (⁠|$\lesssim100$|  pc) star formation and feedback, describing how galaxies convert gas into stars as a function of the galactic environment. Progress has been hampered by a lack of robust empirical constraints on the giant molecular cloud (GMC) lifecycle. We address this problem by systematically applying a new statistical method for measuring the evolutionary timeline of the GMC lifecycle, star formation, and feedback to a sample of nine nearby disc galaxies, observed as part of the PHANGS-ALMA survey. We measure the spatially resolved (∼100 pc) CO-to-H α flux ratio and find a universal de-correlation between molecular gas and young stars on GMC scales, allowing us to quantify the underlying evolutionary timeline. GMC lifetimes are short, typically |$10\!-\!30\,{\rm Myr}$|⁠ , and exhibit environmental variation, between and within galaxies. At kpc-scale molecular gas surface densities |$\Sigma _{\rm H_2}\ge 8\,\rm {M_\odot}\,{{\rm pc}}^{-2}$|⁠ , the GMC lifetime correlates with time-scales for galactic dynamical processes, whereas at |$\Sigma _{\rm H_2}\le 8\,\rm {M_\odot}\,{{\rm pc}}^{-2}$| GMCs decouple from galactic dynamics and live for an internal dynamical time-scale. After a long inert phase without massive star formation traced by H α (75–90 per cent of the cloud lifetime), GMCs disperse within just |$1\!-\!5\,{\rm Myr}$| once massive stars emerge. The dispersal is most likely due to early stellar feedback, causing GMCs to achieve integrated star formation efficiencies of 4–10 per cent. These results show that galactic star formation is governed by cloud-scale, environmentally dependent, dynamical processes driving rapid evolutionary cycling. GMCs and H  ii regions are the fundamental units undergoing these lifecycles, with mean separations of |$100\!-\!300\,{{\rm pc}}$| in star-forming discs. Future work should characterize the multiscale physics and mass flows driving these lifecycles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context. Cloud-scale surveys of molecular gas reveal the link between giant molecular cloud properties and star formation across a range of galactic environments. Cloud populations in galaxy disks are considered to be representative of the normal star formation process, while galaxy centers tend to harbor denser gas that exhibits more extreme star formation. At high resolution, however, molecular clouds with exceptional gas properties and star formation activity may also be observed in normal disk environments. In this paper we study the brightest cloud traced in CO(2–1) emission in the disk of nearby spiral galaxy NGC 628. Aims. We characterize the properties of the molecular and ionized gas that is spatially coincident with an extremely bright H II region in the context of the NGC 628 galactic environment. We investigate how feedback and large-scale processes influence the properties of the molecular gas in this region. Methods. High-resolution ALMA observations of CO(2–1) and CO(1−0) emission were used to characterize the mass and dynamical state of the "headlight" molecular cloud. The characteristics of this cloud are compared to the typical properties of molecular clouds in NGC 628. A simple large velocity gradient (LVG) analysis incorporating additional ALMA observations of 13CO(1−0), HCO+(1−0), and HCN(1−0) emission was used to constrain the beam-diluted density and temperature of the molecular gas. We analyzed the MUSE spectrum using Starburst99 to characterize the young stellar population associated with the H II region. Results. The unusually bright headlight cloud is massive (1 − 2 × 107 M⊙), with a beam-diluted density of nH2 = 5 × 104 cm−3 based on LVG modeling. It has a low virial parameter, suggesting that the CO emission associated with this cloud may be overluminous due to heating by the H II region. A young (2 − 4 Myr) stellar population with mass 3 × 105 M⊙ is associated. Conclusions. We argue that the headlight cloud is currently being destroyed by feedback from young massive stars. Due to the large mass of the cloud, this phase of the its evolution is long enough for the impact of feedback on the excitation of the gas to be observed. The high mass of the headlight cloud may be related to its location at a spiral co-rotation radius, where gas experiences reduced galactic shear compared to other regions of the disk and receives a sustained inflow of gas that can promote the mass growth of the cloud. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Schwarzschild orbit-based dynamical models are widely used to uncover the internal dynamics of early-type galaxies and globular clusters. Here we present for the first time the Schwarzschild models of late-type galaxies: an SBb galaxy NGC4210 and an S0 galaxy NGC6278 from the Calar Alto Legacy Integral Field Area (CALIFA) survey. The mass profiles within 2Re are constrained well with 1σ statistical error of ~10 per cent. The luminous and dark mass can be disentangled with uncertainties of ~20 and ~50 per cent, respectively. From Re to 2Re, the dark matter fraction increases from 14 ± 10 to 18 ± 10 per cent for NGC4210 and from 15 ± 10 to 30 ± 20 per cent for NGC6278. The velocity anisotropy profiles of both σr/σt and σz/σR are well constrained. The inferred internal orbital distributions reveal clear substructures. The orbits are naturally separated into three components: a cold component with near circular orbits; a hot component with near radial orbits and a warm component in between. The photometrically identified exponential discs are predominantly made up of cold orbits only beyond ~1Re, while they are constructed mainly with the warm orbits inside. Our dynamical hot components are concentrated in the inner regions, similar to the photometrically identified bulges. The reliability of the results, especially the orbit distribution, is verified by applying the model to mock data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a kinematical study of 29 spiral galaxies included in the Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structure in Galaxies, using Hα Fabry-Perot (FP) data obtained with the Galaxy Hα Fabry- Perot System instrument at the William Herschel Telescope in La Palma, complemented with images in the R band and in Hα. The primary goal is to study the evolution and properties of the main structural components of galaxies through the kinematical analysis of the FP data, complemented with studies of morphology, star formation and mass distribution. In this paper we describe how the FP data have been obtained, processed and analysed. We present the resulting moment maps, rotation curves, velocity model maps and residual maps. Images are available in FITS format through the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database and the Centre de DonnÂ'ees Stellaires. With these data products we study the non-circular motions, in particular those found along the bars and spiral arms. The data indicate that the amplitude of the non-circular motions created by the bar does not correlate with the bar strength indicators. The amplitude of those non-circular motions in the spiral arms does not correlate with either arm class or star formation rate along the spiral arms. This implies that the presence and the magnitude of the streaming motions in the arms is a local phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present a kinematical study of 29 spiral galaxies included in the Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structure in Galaxies, using Hα Fabry-Perot (FP) data obtained with the Galaxy Hα Fabry-Perot System instrument at the William Herschel Telescope in La Palma, complemented with images in the R band and in Hα. The primary goal is to study the evolution and properties of the main structural components of galaxies through the kinematical analysis of the FP data, complemented with studies of morphology, star formation and mass distribution. In this paper we describe how the FP data have been obtained, processed and analysed. We present the resulting moment maps, rotation curves, velocity model maps and residual maps. Images are available in FITS format through the NASA/IPAC Extragalactic Database and the Centre de Données Stellaires. With these data products we study the non-circular motions, in particular those found along the bars and spiral arms. The data indicate that the amplitude of the non-circular motions created by the bar does not correlate with the bar strength indicators. The amplitude of those non-circular motions in the spiral arms does not correlate with either arm class or star formation rate along the spiral arms. This implies that the presence and the magnitude of the streaming motions in the arms is a local phenomenon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We compare the properties of giant molecular clouds (GMCs) in M51 identified by the Plateau de Bure Interferometer Whirlpool Arcsecond Survey with GMCs identified in wide-field, high-resolution surveys of CO emission in M33 and the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). We find that GMCs in M51 are larger, brighter, and have higher velocity dispersions relative to their sizes than equivalent structures in M33 and the LMC. These differences imply that there are genuine variations in the average mass surface density of the different GMC populations. To explain this, we propose that the pressure in the interstellar medium surrounding the GMCs plays a role in regulating their density and velocity dispersion. We find no evidence for a correlation between size and linewidth in M51, M33, or the LMC when the CO emission is decomposed into GMCs, although moderately robust correlations are apparent when regions of contiguous CO emission (with no size limitation) are used. Our work demonstrates that observational bias remains an important obstacle to the identification and study of extragalactic GMC populations using CO emission, especially in molecule-rich galactic environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We use the high spatial and spectral resolution of the PAWS CO(1-0) survey of the inner 9 kpc of the iconic spiral galaxy M51 to examine the effects of gas streaming motions on the star-forming properties of individual giant molecular clouds (GMCs). We compare our view of gas flows in M51—which arise due to departures from axisymmetry in the gravitational potential (i.e., the nuclear bar and spiral arms)—with the global pattern of star formation as traced by Hα and 24 μm emission. We find that the dynamical environment of GMCs strongly affects their ability to form stars, in the sense that GMCs situated in regions with large streaming motions can be stabilized, while similarly massive GMCs in regions without streaming go on to efficiently form stars. We argue that this is the result of reduced surface pressure felt by clouds embedded in an ambient medium undergoing large streaming motions, which prevent collapse. Indeed, the variation in gas depletion time expected based on the observed streaming motions throughout the disk of M51 quantitatively agrees with the variation in the observed gas depletion time scale. The example of M51 shows that streaming motions, triggered by gravitational instabilities in the form of bars and spiral arms, can alter the star formation law; this can explain the variation in gas depletion time among galaxies with different masses and morphologies. In particular, we can explain the long gas depletion times in spiral galaxies compared with dwarf galaxies and starbursts. We suggest that adding a dynamical pressure term to the canonical free-fall time produces a single star formation law that can be applied to all star-forming regions and galaxies across cosmic time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We analyze the distribution of CO brightness temperature and integrated intensity in M51 at ∼40 pc resolution using new 12CO(J = 1 → 0) data from the Plateau de Bure Arcsecond Whirlpool Survey (PAWS). We present probability distribution functions (PDFs) of the CO emission within the PAWS field of view, which covers the inner ∼11 × 7 kpc of M51. We find clear variations in the shape of CO PDFs both within different M51 environments, defined according to dynamical criteria, and among M51 and two nearby low-mass galaxies, M33 and the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC). Globally, the PDFs for the inner disk of M51 can be represented by narrow lognormal functions that cover ∼1-2 orders of magnitude in CO brightness and integrated intensity. The PDFs for M33 and the LMC are narrower and peak at lower CO intensities, consistent with their lower gas surface densities. However, the CO PDFs for different dynamical environments within the PAWS field depart significantly from the shape of the global distribution. The PDFs for the interarm region are approximately lognormal, but in the spiral arms and central region of M51, they exhibit diverse shapes with a significant excess of bright CO emission. The observed environmental dependence on the shape of the CO PDFs is qualitatively consistent with changes that would be expected if molecular gas in the spiral arms is characterized by a larger range of average densities, gas temperatures, and velocity fluctuations, although further work is required to disentangle the relative importance of large-scale dynamical effects versus star formation feedback in regulating these properties. We show that the shape of the CO PDFs for different M51 environments is only weakly related to global properties of the CO emission, e.g., the total CO luminosity, but is strongly correlated with properties of the local giant molecular cloud (GMC) and young stellar cluster populations, including the shape of their mass distributions. For galaxies with strong spiral structure such as M51, our results indicate that galactic-scale dynamical processes play a significant role in the formation and evolution of GMCs and stellar clusters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Plateau de Bure Interferometer Arcsecond Whirlpool Survey has mapped the molecular gas in the central ∼9 kpc of M51 in its 12CO(1-0) line emission at a cloud-scale resolution of ∼40 pc using both IRAM telescopes. We utilize this data set to quantitatively characterize the relation of molecular gas (or CO emission) to other tracers of the interstellar medium, star formation, and stellar populations of varying ages. Using two-dimensional maps, a polar cross-correlation technique and pixel-by-pixel diagrams, we find: (1) that (as expected) the distribution of the molecular gas can be linked to different components of the gravitational potential; (2) evidence for a physical link between CO line emission and radio continuum that seems not to be caused by massive stars, but rather depends on the gas density; (3) a close spatial relation between polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) and molecular gas emission, but no predictive power of PAH emission for the molecular gas mass; (4) that the I – H color map is an excellent predictor of the distribution (and to a lesser degree, the brightness) of CO emission; and (5) that the impact of massive (UV-intense) young star-forming regions on the bulk of the molecular gas in central ∼9 kpc cannot be significant due to a complex spatial relation between molecular gas and star-forming regions that ranges from cospatial to spatially offset to absent. The last point, in particular, highlights the importance of galactic environment—and thus the underlying gravitational potential—for the distribution of molecular gas and star formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the data of the Plateau de Bure Arcsecond Whirlpool Survey, a high spatial and spectral resolution 12CO (1-0) line survey of the inner ∼10 × 6 kpc of the M51 system, and the first wide-field imaging of molecular gas in a star-forming spiral galaxy with resolution matched to the typical size of giant molecular clouds (40 pc). We describe the observation, reduction, and combination of the Plateau de Bure Interferometer (PdBI) and IRAM-30 m “short spacing” data. The final data cube attains 1.″1 resolution over the ∼270″ × 170″ field of view, with sensitivity to all spatial scales from the combination of PdBI and IRAM-30 m data, and a brightness sensitivity of 0.4 K (1σ) in each 5 km s–1-wide channel map. We find a CO luminosity of 9 × 108 K km s–1 pc2, corresponding to a molecular gas mass of 4 × 109M☼ for a standard CO-to-H2 conversion factor. Unexpectedly, we find that a large fraction of this emission, (50 ± 10)%, arises mostly from spatial scales larger than 36″ ≃ 1.3 kpc. Through a series of tests, we demonstrate that this extended emission does not result from a processing artifact. We discuss its origin in light of the stellar component, the 12CO/13CO ratio, and the difference between the kinematics and structure of the PdBI-only and hybrid synthesis (PdBI + IRAM-30 m) images. The extended emission is consistent with a thick, diffuse disk of molecular gas with a typical scale height of ∼200 pc, substructured in unresolved filaments that fill ∼0.1% of the volume. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dust has long been identified as a barrier to measuring inherent galaxy properties. However, the link between dust and attenuation is not straightforward and depends on both the amount of dust and its distribution. Herschel imaging of nearby galaxies undertaken as part of the KINGFISH project allows us to map the dust as seen in emission with unprecedented sensitivity and ~1 kpc resolution. We present here new optical integral field unit spectroscopy for eight of these galaxies that provides complementary 100-200 pc scale maps of the dust attenuation through observation of the reddening in both the Balmer decrement and the stellar continuum. The stellar continuum reddening, which is systematically less than that observed in the Balmer decrement, shows no clear correlation with the dust, suggesting that the distribution of stellar reddening acts as a poor tracer of the overall dust content. The brightest Hii regions are observed to be preferentially located in dusty regions, and we do find a correlation between the Balmer line reddening and the dust mass surface density for which we provide an empirical relation. Some of the high-inclination systems in our sample exhibit high extinction, but we also find evidence that unresolved variations in the dust distribution on scales smaller than 500 pc may contribute to the scatter in this relation. We caution against the use of integrated AV measures to infer global dust properties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the aim of constructing accurate two-dimensional maps of the stellar mass distribution in nearby galaxies from Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structure in Galaxies 3.6 and 4.5 µm images, we report on the separation of the light from old stars from the emission contributed by contaminants. Results for a small sample of six disk galaxies (NGC 1566, NGC 2976, NGC 3031, NGC 3184, NGC 4321, and NGC 5194) with a range of morphological properties, dust content, and star formation histories are presented to demonstrate our approach. To isolate the old stellar light from contaminant emission (e.g., hot dust and the 3.3 µm polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) feature) in the IRAC 3.6 and 4.5 µm bands we use an independent component analysis (ICA) technique designed to separate statistically independent source distributions, maximizing the distinction in the [3.6]-[4.5] colors of the sources. The technique also removes emission from evolved red objects with a low mass-to-light ratio, such as asymptotic giant branch (AGB) and red supergiant (RSG) stars, revealing maps of the underlying old distribution of light with [3.6]-[4.5] colors consistent with the colors of K and M giants. The contaminants are studied by comparison with the non-stellar emission imaged at 8 µm, which is dominated by the broad PAH feature. Using the measured 3.6 µm/8 µm ratio to select individual contaminants, we find that hot dust and PAHs together contribute between ~5% and 15% to the integrated light at 3.6 µm, while light from regions dominated by intermediate-age (AGB and RSG) stars accounts for only 1%-5%. Locally, however, the contribution from either contaminant can reach much higher levels; dust contributes on average 22% to the emission in star-forming regions throughout the sample, while intermediate-age stars contribute upward of 50% in localized knots. The removal of these contaminants with ICA leaves maps of the old stellar disk that retain a high degree of structural information and are ideally suited for tracing stellar mass, as will be the locus in a companion paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With deep imaging at 3.6 and 4.5 μm where the light in nearby galaxies is dominated by old stars, the Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structure in Nearby Galaxies (S4G) promises to be the ultimate inventory of stellar mass and structure in the local universe. We present results from a novel technique that makes it possible to fully exploit the information contained in these images, pertaining not only to the stellar light (and, ultimately, mass distribution), but also the nature and distribution of the mid-IR dust and the properties of evolved, intermediate age stars (e.g. in AGB-dominated star clusters). We apply Independent Component Analysis (ICA) to the 3.6 and 4.5 μm bands to separate the light from the old stars from the secondary non-stellar (i.e. PAH and hot dust) sources of emission, which are identified via comparison to the non-stellar emission imaged at 8 μm. Then, within the context of age and mass estimation at high z, we extract optical-to-mid-IR SEDs for a sample of ICA-identified AGB-dominated clusters to constrain the typically uncertain fractional contribution of AGB light to the total stellar emission in (rest-frame) NIR bands. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Spiral arm properties of 46 galaxies in the Spitzer Survey of Stellar Structure in Galaxies (S4G) were measured at 3.6 µm, where extinction is small and the old stars dominate. The sample includes flocculent, multiple arm, and grand design types with a wide range of Hubble and bar types. We find that most optically flocculent galaxies are also flocculent in the mid-IR because of star formation uncorrelated with stellar density waves, whereas multiple arm and grand design galaxies have underlying stellar waves. Arm-interarm contrasts increase from flocculent to multiple arm to grand design galaxies and with later Hubble types. Structure can be traced further out in the disk than in previous surveys. Some spirals peak at mid-radius while others continuously rise or fall, depending on Hubble and bar type. We find evidence for regular and symmetric modulations of the arm strength in NGC 4321. Bars tend to be long, high amplitude, and flat-profiled in early-type spirals, with arm contrasts that decrease with radius beyond the end of the bar, and they tend to be short, low amplitude, and exponential-profiled in late Hubble types, with arm contrasts that are constant or increase with radius. Longer bars tend to have larger amplitudes and stronger arms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present near-infrared spectroscopy of a sample of 22 Extreme Emission Line Galaxies at redshifts 1.3 < z < 2.3, confirming that these are low-mass (M⋆ = 108-109M☼) galaxies undergoing intense starburst episodes (M⋆/SFR ∼ 10-100 Myr). The sample is selected by [O III] or Hα emission line flux and equivalent width using near-infrared grism spectroscopy from the 3D-HST survey. High-resolution NIR spectroscopy is obtained with LBT/LUCI and VLT/X-SHOOTER. The [O III]/Hβ line ratio is high (≳ 5) and [N II]/Hα is always significantly below unity, which suggests a low gas-phase metallicity. We are able to determine gas-phase metallicities for seven of our objects using various strong-line methods, with values in the range 0.05-0.30 Z☼ and with a median of 0.15 Z☼; for three of these objects we detect [O III] λ4363, which allows for a direct constraint on the metallicity. The velocity dispersion, as measured from the nebular emission lines, is typically ∼50 km s–1. Combined with the observed star-forming activity, the Jeans and Toomre stability criteria imply that the gas fraction must be large (fgas ≳ 2/3), consistent with the difference between our dynamical and stellar mass estimates. The implied gas depletion timescale (several hundred Myr) is substantially longer than the inferred mass-weighted ages (∼50 Myr), which further supports the emerging picture that most stars in low-mass galaxies form in short, intense bursts of star formation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present stellar mass maps for the S4G sample based on imaging at 3.6 μm that we correct for the presence of non-stellar emission using an ICA technique. Our dust-free images can be readily converted into stellar mass maps, and this important legacy dataset will be made public through IRSA. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

We present a new approach for estimating the 3.6 μm stellar mass-to-light (M/L) ratio ϒ3.6 in terms of the [3.6]-[4.5] colors of old stellar populations. Our approach avoids several of the largest sources of uncertainty in existing techniques using population synthesis models. By focusing on mid-IR wavelengths, we gain a virtually dust extinction-free tracer of the old stars, avoiding the need to adopt a dust model to correctly interpret optical or optical/near-IR colors normally leveraged to assign the mass-to-light ratio ϒ. By calibrating a new relation between near-IR and mid-IR colors of giant stars observed in GLIMPSE we also avoid the discrepancies in model predictions for the [3.6]-[4.5] colors of old stellar populations due to uncertainties in the molecular line opacities assumed in template spectra. We find that the [3.6]-[4.5] color, which is driven primarily by metallicity, provides a tight constraint on ϒ3.6, which varies intrinsically less than at optical wavelengths. The uncertainty on ϒ3.6 of ∼0.07 dex due to unconstrained age variations marks a significant improvement on existing techniques for estimating the stellar M/L with shorter wavelength data. A single ϒ3.6 = 0.6 (assuming a Chabrier initial mass function (IMF)), independent of [3.6]-[4.5] color, is also feasible because it can be applied simultaneously to old, metal-rich and young, metal-poor populations, and still with comparable (or better) accuracy (∼0.1 dex) than alternatives. We expect our ϒ3.6 to be optimal for mapping the stellar mass distributions in S4G galaxies, for which we have developed an independent component analysis technique to first isolate the old stellar light at 3.6 μm from nonstellar emission (e.g., hot dust and the 3.3 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon feature). Our estimate can also be used to determine the fractional contribution of nonstellar emission to global (rest-frame) 3.6 μm fluxes, e.g., in WISE imaging, and establishes a reliable basis for exploring variations in the stellar IMF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using data from the PdBI Arcsecond Whirlpool Survey (PAWS), we have generated the largest extragalactic giant molecular cloud (GMC) catalog to date, containing 1507 individual objects. GMCs in the inner M51 disk account for only 54% of the total 12CO(1-0) luminosity of the survey, but on average they exhibit physical properties similar to Galactic GMCs. We do not find a strong correlation between the GMC size and velocity dispersion, and a simple virial analysis suggests that ∼30% of GMCs in M51 are unbound. We have analyzed the GMC properties within seven dynamically motivated galactic environments, finding that GMCs in the spiral arms and in the central region are brighter and have higher velocity dispersions than inter-arm clouds. Globally, the GMC mass distribution does not follow a simple power-law shape. Instead, we find that the shape of the mass distribution varies with galactic environment: the distribution is steeper in inter-arm region than in the spiral arms, and exhibits a sharp truncation at high masses for the nuclear bar region. We propose that the observed environmental variations in the GMC properties and mass distributions are a consequence of the combined action of large-scale dynamical processes and feedback from high-mass star formation. We describe some challenges of using existing GMC identification techniques for decomposing the 12CO(1-0) emission in molecule-rich environments, such as M51's inner disk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The kinematic complexity and the favorable position of M51 on the sky make this galaxy an ideal target to test different theories of spiral arm dynamics. Taking advantage of the new high-resolution PdBI Arcsecond Whirlpool Survey data, we undertake a detailed kinematic study of M51 to characterize and quantify the origin and nature of the non-circular motions. Using a tilted-ring analysis supported by several other archival data sets, we update the estimation of M51's position angle (P.A. = (173 ± 3)°) and inclination (i = (22 ± 5)°). Harmonic decomposition of the high-resolution (∼40 pc) CO velocity field shows the first kinematic evidence of an m = 3 wave in the inner disk of M51 with a corotation at RCR, m = 3 = 1.1 ± 0.1 kpc and a pattern speed of Ωp, m = 3 ≈ 140 km s–1 kpc–1. This mode seems to be excited by the nuclear bar, while the beat frequencies generated by the coupling between the m = 3 mode and the main spiral structure confirm its density-wave nature. We observe also a signature of an m = 1 mode that is likely responsible for the lopsidedness of M51 at small and large radii. We provide a simple method to estimate the radial variation of the amplitude of the spiral perturbation (Vsp) attributed to the different modes. The main spiral arm structure has 〈 Vsp〉 = 50-70 km s–1, while the streaming velocity associated with the m = 1 and m = 3 modes is, in general, two times lower. Our joint analysis of H I and CO velocity fields at low and high spatial resolution reveals that the atomic and molecular gas phases respond differently to the spiral perturbation due to their different vertical distribution and emission morphology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]